Travelers from New York should quarantine for 14 days, White House says

Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said on Tuesday it was "very critical" that individuals who have recently traveled from the New York metro area self-quarantine for 14 days to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Why it matters: "We don't want that to be another seeding point to the rest of the country," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at the coronavirus task force briefing on Tuesday.

Where it stands: There are at least 14,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City and least 131 people have died, with more than 50 deaths located throughout the rest of the state.

The USNS Comfort — a floating hospital with nearly 1,000 hospital beds — will arrive in New York "in a few short weeks," Vice President Mike Pence said.

"We're talking to them about it," Trump said on Tuesday, when a reporter asked if the task force had notified New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo about its recommendation that travelers from New York self-isolate for 14 days.